For several years children in need have enjoyed the traditional summer camp experience thanks to Knox Presbyterian Church and its annual garage sale.
“It began with children in our church who wanted to go to camp but couldn’t afford it,” said Karin Mode, one of the many members of the Knox congregation involved in the church’s garage sale project.
Knox Presbyterian has held a garage year and barbecue every year as part of its fundraising efforts for its youth program. The church garage sale was always scheduled during the annual Trash & Treasures Day event in Vankleek Hill, when homeowners in the village and surrounding areas would set up tables in their front yards or along the village’s Main Street and several other nearby neighbourhood streets and offer for sale nearly-new and used items gleaned from household basements, attics, and garages.
Various clubs and community groups, like Knox Presbyterian, would also take advantage of the fundraising opportunity for their programs and projects by setting up their own tables. A few home-based businesses and local artists and crafters also take part in the annual mega-street bazaar.
Ten years ago, Mode said, the Knox Presbyterian congregation decided it would dedicate the proceeds from its annual garage sale and barbecue to a specific project: helping children go to summer camp.
“Usually we make between $1500 to $2000 from the garage sale and the barbecue,” she said, during a phone interview June 7. “This year we expect to have $1300 from the garage sale alone.”
When the church’s send-a-child to camp project began, it was able to send at least 10 or more children to the Gracefield Christian Fellowship Camp in the little village of Gracefield, Québec, near Wakefield, QC. The number of local applications has dropped a bit since then so the congregation decided to send the proceeds from each year’s garage sale to the camp for deposit in a reserve fund that will help any child of a family in need to enjoy the summer camp experience.
“Now we are helping any children who want to go to camp but can’t afford to,” Mode said.
During their week-long stays at the Gracefield summer camp, children enjoy canoeing and swimming in a little nearby lake, archery under expert supervision, handicrafts, games and other activities, and even exploring a small garden maze at the camp. They also take part in daily Bible studies. The older children also go on an overnight camping trip to a small island on the lake.
“They always really enjoy their camp trip,” said Mode.
This year the Knox Church summer camp project will provide direct assistance for two children in the Vankleek Hill area to go to summer camp in Gracefield in July. The special fund remains available to help other children who want to enjoy the summer camp experience.
